In the Snake Pit
by TheDarkMind10
Summary: The cliche 'Harry gets sorted into Slytherin' with a twist or two. Dark but not evil Harry.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Damn. I feel like a writing machine over the past day or so. I will continue with **_**Over a Galleon,**_** while writing this at the same time. This one is planned to be longer than **_**Over a Galleon**_** is planned to be, but I don't have much planned out in details for either story. This one is the cliché Harry gets sorted into Slytherin, but not because he becomes friends with Malfoy, which makes this one a little different from so many other fics, but not totally unique.**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, owning at least one copy of every book and movie doesn't give me ownership of Harry Potter. That privilege belongs to JK Rowling, her publishers, and Warner Bros.**

The Great Hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was in a shocked silence. Almost everyone thought that they had heard the sorting hat wrong. With 'Potter, Harry' being called to try on the sorting hat, almost everyone had him figured for Gryffindor. Where else would the savior of the wizarding world end up? But to the shock of everyone else in the hall, the hat instead called out the least anticipated of the four houses for the Boy-Who-Lived to end up. Slytherin. Harry had simply asked the hat to place him where it thought Harry had the best chance of success in. The hat had complied.

The shocked silence was slowly broken by the sounds of a few Slytherins clapping. Slowly, the rest of the house started clapping along, and soon, a nearly deafening round of applause was coming from the table of the snakes. Harry simply took a seat away from everyone else, sporting a bored look as he did so. It took nearly three minutes for Professor McGonagall to restart the sorting.

Up at the staff table, the head of Slytherin, Professor Severus Snape was wondering what to do. _It is much harder to hate a Potter when he is in my own house. Perhaps I should see how much Lily he has in him before I decide how to treat him._

The Headmaster, one Albus P.W.B Dumbledore, was also deep in thought. _Sh*t. All my well laid out plans have been ruined. I'll have to figure out another way to get him to trust me._

A third party on that staff table was also thinking. _Hmm, how interesting, _the Dark Lord Voldemort, inhabiting the body of the new defense professor, Quirinus Quirrell, thought to himself. _My plans will have to stay the same though._

Oblivious to all of these thoughts, a stone-faced Harry Potter sat at the Slytherin table, ignoring the people staring at him. Harry was thinking about how he wanted to come across to the wizarding world. He had read a book on wizarding etiquette he managed to purchase when Hagrid wasn't looking, at Flourish and Blotts, and eventually decided on coming across as a proud heir of a rich and old house, but also not come across as arrogant as Draco Malfoy. Harry knew that was a fine line to walk, but he felt he was up to the task. He decided to avoid making many friends, and instead focus on making powerful allies.

Harry eventually started up a quiet conversation with a few Slytherin first years by the names of Blaise Zabini, Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis, and Theodore Nott. All four were fairly quiet, which suited Harry just fine. He would associate with people like that than stuck up, arrogant bullies such as Draco Malfoy.

While eating, Harry carefully watched the people around him, trying to see how they ate compared to other people in the hall. _At least they use utensils_, thought Harry, as he watched Ron Weasley eat two full meals with only his hands. However, Harry did notice that they all sat up straight, as compared to the other houses which ate with a fairly relaxed posture. Harry did find it annoying that everyone in the hall besides the Slytherins were staring at him. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs merely seemed curious, but the Gryffindors were staring at him as if he had somehow wronged them. _Probably just upset that I didn't get sorted there_, Harry thought with distaste. _I don't see why they should treat me differently just because I got sorted to a house other than Gryffindor._

After dinner, and a particularly odd comment by the headmaster about the third floor corridor being out of bounds, the fifth year Slytherin prefects led the first years towards the Slytherin common room. Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes as a loud and arrogant red-headed Gryffindor prefect announced his status to basically the whole school trying to lead the first years out of the hall first.

After entering the common room in the dungeons, the prefects, years five through seven introduced themselves, and then a greasy-haired man entered, introducing himself as Professor Snape, head of Slytherin. Harry couldn't help but feel the need to avoid his bad side. After explaining basic school procedures and warning them to look united, at least out of the common room, he dismissed the first years to bed. Finding the dorms to house two people each, and ordered alphabetically, Harry found himself rooming with Blaise Zabini. _Could be three people worse than him_, Harry thought to himself. His dreams that night, interestingly, found him running from a ferret and two apes.

At breakfast the next morning, Harry once again found himself being stared at. _This is getting real old, real fast_, he thought to himself. Upon receiving his schedule, he found it odd they shared so many potentially dangerous classes with the Gryffindors. It wasn't hard to tell that Gryffindor and Slytherin didn't quite see eye to eye. _Don't they know that people could get hurt from the classes being arranged like this, _Harry thought to himself.

During breakfast, Harry continued talking with Blaise, Theodore, Daphne, and Tracey. He found that he rather enjoyed their company, and shared their goals to remain rather isolated from the rest of the school. They decided to form a study group. There was a fast growing feeling of friendship between the five 11-year olds.

After breakfast, the Slytherin first years went off to their first class of their school careers, Herbology with the Ravenclaws. The first day of classes was rather uneventful, as after Herbology, they had History of Magic with the Hufflepuffs, and almost immediately, everyone in the class began to feel drowsy. Nothing eventful happened until the second day of classes, when Ron Weasley and Seamus Finnegan of Gryffindor were five minutes late to Transfiguration.

"Good, she isn't here yet," Seamus said. Unbeknown to both him and Ron, the tabby cat on the teacher's desk, which was located behind them, jumped off, and to the shock of many in the room, transformed into the stern Professor McGonagall.

"On the contrary Mr. Finnegan, I am here. Perhaps I should transfigure you into a map, and young Mr. Weasley into a watch, so that you may be on time, next time," McGonagall spoke, scaring both Gryffindors, much to the amusement of one Draco Malfoy.

"Sorry, professor," both Gryffindors chorused.

"Now that everyone is here, we can begin," announced McGonagall. She proceeded to transfigure her desk into a pig, warned the class, not to screw around, and then went straight into a very complex set of notes.

The rest of the week went much the same way, with Professor Snape interrogating Ron in potions, and docking points for incorrect answers being the highlight for many Slytherins. Harry and his group of friends continued to study with each other, with lots of attention diverted towards Defense and History due to incompetent teachers in both subjects. The group mostly kept to themselves, rarely talking to anyone outside the group. Harry took a particular liking to Theodore Nott, who helped teach Harry basic pureblood etiquette, despite Harry's halfblood status. Being the heir to the House of Potter did put him in line to inherit on of the older, and therefore _richer_ houses in wizarding Britain.

About three weeks into September, flying lessons started. Most of Slytherin got disgusted with Malfoy for losing them 50 points, due to grabbing Neville Longbottom's remembrall off the ground, and flying with it, taunting Ron Weasley to come get it, despite Madam Hooch's warning not to leave the ground. He had the distinct bad luck of having professor McGonagall see the whole thing from her window.

Halloween, along with its bad memories for Harry, also brought a shock to the school. A first year Gryffindor, Hermione Granger, was crushed by a mountain troll who had been let into the school. An Auror investigation led to two conclusions. One was that Ron Weasley had driven her to a bathroom by making hurtful comments earlier in the day. And the other was that Quirinus Quirrell, defense professor at Hogwarts, was responsible for letting the troll in. Further investigation showed that he had disappeared from the school about an hour after the attack. The school was forced to close until Quirrell had been captured. The body of Quirrell was found in the small town of Little Hangleton a week later. Two days later, panic spread through the wizarding world like wildfire, due to the headline in the Daily Prophet:

_**YOU-KNOW-WHO RETURNS!**_

**A/N: That concludes chapter one. Voldemort has the Philosopher's Stone. Don't kill me for ending it here, I'm tired. This is the second chapter in 48 hours I've finished between midnight and three AM. I won't update in any pattern, but check every couple of days for updates on either story.**

**TheDarkMind10**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Not the instant success of **_**Over a Galleon,**_** but I can understand that. I have decided on two pairings for the story. Sorry H/D fans, that isn't who Harry will get paired with. Some people may have thought the first chapter seemed rushed, that was intentional. The first part of this chapter will go by extremely fast, but I will focus some on years five through seven.**

The next couple of years flew by for Harry and his friends. While the Dark Lord was baffling people on how he returned, Harry and the gang continued to study hard. Spending about a week at both Theodore and Blaise's houses each summer had left Harry feeling more confident about future role in society. After finding a room in third year on the seventh floor that could turn into anything one desired, they were able to start practicing some darker magic, due to the fact that it wasn't tied into the school's wards. Theodore had admitted that his father was a Death Eater, but Theo wasn't planning on joining the Dark Lord, and the other three came from neutral families. They agreed to try to stay that way, but if forced to choose, would side with the ministry.

Their second year featured the pompous, arrogant Gilderoy Lockhart as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, who was sacked after virtually all the males complained that they didn't learn anything worthwhile under his instruction. Harry, Blaise, Theo, Tracey, and Daphne had taught themselves, something that would eventually become a pattern in that subject for the rest of their schooling, with third year being the only notable exception.

In that third year, the Dark Lord staged his first major attack in 12 years, by breaking out several well- known Death Eaters from Azkaban. The only notable prisoner left was Sirius Black who was tried as to why he wasn't broken out. The surprisingly relatively sane Black, tried under Veritaserum, revealed that he had never been given a trial when he was originally incarcerated. He proceeded to reveal that Peter Pettigrew was the real perpetrator of the crimes he was accused of, and then told the entire Wizengamot that Peter Pettigrew was among the Weasley family as their family rat. The only thing that saved Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge's political career was the fact that he wasn't the minister when Black was shipped off to Azkaban. A team of aurors managed to catch Pettigrew in his rat form, who was stripped of his Order of Merlin, and sentenced to go through the Veil of Death in the Department of Mysteries. Sirius Black was given a full pardon, and was allowed to gain custody of his godson, Harry Potter.

Fourth Year was rather uneventful for the trio, as they had their fifth DADA teacher in four years. Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody was one of the most successful aurors of all time. Unfortunately for his eager students, he didn't work well with children, and he mainly talked about the Unforgivable Curses, and "CONSTANT VILIGANCE." The positive in the year was the Tri-Wizard tournament, in which Viktor Krum soundly beat Fleur Delacour and Cedric Diggory for the win. The Yule Ball was an interesting affair. Harry had managed to ask Tracey just before Theo did, which caused a minor argument between the two friends. Theo then decided to ask Daphne, only to get beaten to it by Blaise, which resulted in another argument. Theo eventually asked a Beauxbatons representative, and the two got along well.

The summer before fifth year was much the same as the others. Harry went to live with his godfather, and despite Sirius generally being anti-Slytherin, the two were starting to grow closer. Harry had to admit it beat staying with the Dursley family by a long shot, though. Harry spent the first two weeks of August with Theo and Blaise, as he usually did. When he returned to his godfather's house, which had become considerably brighter in a year and a half, he got his school list.

On platform Nine and Three-Quarters is where our story truly starts however.

**September 1, 1995**

As a group of five fifth years clad in black robes with green and silver trim, two with silver badges with the letter 'P' pinned on their chests, walked towards a scarlet steam engine, they exuded a feeling of control. Many people in lower years scrambled to get out of their way. On the far left stood a dark skinned boy, roughly six feet, athletically built, and and extremely short, dark brown hair completed his intimidating look. Standing to his right was an attractive blonde, with penetrating blue eyes. Considered among the top three attractive witches in their year, many males found her unapproachable due to the cold personality she radiated. On the far right stood a haughty-looking boy, a lean six foot two, the tallest of the group, with a 'P' badge pinned proudly on the front of his robes. He exuded a sense of near royalty. Standing too his left, and slightly in front stood another pretty girl. With brown hair, and brown eyes, she didn't particularly stand out amongst a crowd. She also had a 'P' badge pinned to her chest, and based on the way she has clinging to the young man standing next to her, she apparently was spoken for. The boy in question was standing in the center of the group, as if to signify that he was the leader. He was the shortest of the boys, but he stood just as straight as anyone else. His two distinctive features were his acid green eyes, which had a look of knowledge and understanding of things beyond his years, and a lightning bolt shaped scar right above his left brow. The scar had earned this boy fame across the entire English wizarding world, though it cost him his parents.

The five students strode confidently across the platform, careful to stare down anyone that crossed their path. Most people had the sense to stay away. Once on the train, the group quickly claimed the same compartment they had ridden in for each of the last four years. After they had been challenged about monopolizing that compartment following their third year, no one commented on it again. The group of Harry Potter, his girlfriend Tracey Davis, the other couple of Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass, and Theodore Nott was not to be taken lightly. Rumors were swirling that the Auror department was already watching them closely, and they hadn't even taken their OWLs yet.

As the group settled in, Harry, Blaise and Theo started playing exploding snap. Harry had some difficulty focusing on the game, as Tracey had started snuggling into his side. Daphne was reviewing their Charms text for the year. The group wasn't really expecting their Slytherin rivals to show up during the train ride. The house of the snakes was supposed to portray a united front, at least in public, and not even the somewhat idiotic Draco Malfoy was stupid enough to risk irritating their head of house, Severus Snape. However, they felt that the Gryffindors, especially Ronald Weasley, were likely to try and intimidate the Slytherins, though the Gryffindors got beaten every year.

They weren't disappointed, as only about 30 minutes into the ride, Weasley barged into their compartment.

"Well, well. If it isn't the red-headed garbage disposal on legs," Blaise sneered, quickly opening the exchange.

"Shut up, you dark wizard. I know you've corrupted Harry Potter, but you won't corrupt me," Weasley stated defiantly."

"Shows how much you know, Weasley," Harry argued. "One, we aren't _dark_ wizards, just wizards. And two, no one has corrupted me. We've been over this countless times in the past four years."

"Well of course you are dark. You're Slytherins. All Slytherins are dark," Weasley pressed.

"That narrow-mindedness is what left you friendless, Carrot Top," Tracey shot back. And it was partially true. The main reason he was so disliked among the entire school was his role in Hermione Granger's untimely death back in first year though. Unfortunately for him, his narrow-mindedness didn't gain him any popularity points either, leaving him totally friendless.

"No one asked you, you slimy snake," Ron scowled.

"No one asked you to come interrupt us, Weasley, yet you did," said a clearly agitated Blaise. "Go bother Malfoy, or something. Just leave us alone, before you get a detention or something." Both Theo and Tracey got mischievous looks in their eyes.

"Fine. I don't want to talk to you dark wizards anyway." Ron stormed away, but not before giving his customary 'It isn't too late, Harry' comment. Everyone just shook their heads at his absurdity.

Nothing else happened until they finally reached Hogsmeade. They all piled into one carriage, and traveled up to the castle that hadn't lost its grandeur to them in the entire time that they had been students there.

**A/N: That concludes Chapter 2, after a month of waiting. I hope you weren't too upset with the pairings. Next chapter for **_**Over A Galleon **_**could be up as early as tonight, but don't count on anything.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm pretty pathetic. I've got a pen for my homework in my hand, and on my computer, I'm alternating between fantasy football, writing this story, and looking at my story stats. Anyway, on to Chapter 3.**

**Disclaimer: This will be my last one for this story. I don't own Harry Potter in any form that I could make money from.**

**Chapter 3**

The sorting wasn't very eventful. Slytherin took about 20% of the new first years, roughly 10 of 50, give or take a few on either number. The group didn't really pay attention, and were rather talking quietly amongst themselves. Once the Sorting concluded, Headmaster Dumbledore rose at the head table.

"Welcome back, most of you, and welcome to the rest, to Hogwarts. Before we dive into this delicious looking feast, a few start of term announcements. First of all, the caretaker, Mr. Filch, has banned several more pranking objects. A full list can be found on the door of his office, located next to the potions classroom. Next, a reminder that bullying of any sort is not permitted, and will result in severe punishment." He paused for a moment, likely remembering poor Hermione Granger, and then continued. "Finally, two teaching notices. Professor Hagrid will be gone for the first month or so, so Professor Grubbly-Plank has graciously agreed to fill in for that time." Harry couldn't help but think about Hagrid fondly. He was the one to introduce Harry to the wizarding world, and he had given Harry his most treasured possession, a photo album of his parents. Harry returned his attention to Dumbledore. "It is my great pleasure to introduce to you all, your newest defense professor, Senior Auror Shacklebolt. The ministry has graciously allowed him to teach hear, to prepare you for the war with Voldemort." At his name, the Great Hall went deathly quiet. "Enough of that talk, though," continued Dumbledore, as though he were only discussing the weather. "Dig in!"

There were whispers going through the hall. At the Slytherin table, the group was talking about what having an _active_ auror teaching them could mean.

"He probably knows more about the current auror training program than Moody did, for one," said Blaise.

"I don't think he'll frighten everyone in the class every chance he gets by shouting 'CONSTANT VILIGENCE,'" said a hopeful sounding Tracey.

"Maybe he is here, in part, to scout us out. It isn't a secret that the auror department is already looking at us," said Theo.

"I don't really care why he's here, it's just a good thing he is here. The ministry could have sent someone who doesn't know anything about defense, and that would screw us for our OWLs," said Harry, thoughtfully.

"Here, here," chanted the other four in agreement.

After dinner, Theo and Tracey had to break off from the other three to lead the first years to the common room. As Harry, Blaise, and Daphne were walking down towards the dungeons, Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Bulstrode and Parkinson cornered the unsuspecting trio.

"If you three or Davis or Nott try anything funny this year, we will take you out," threatened the Malfoy heir.

"But Drakey, you're the one that is always disgracing the name of Slytherin," said Blaise in a baby voice.

"Watch what you say, Zabini," snarled Draco, as Crabbe, Goyle, and Bulstrode glared at the Italian boy with distaste. "If you would just join the Dark Lord, we wouldn't have to fight, you know."

"Why the hell would anyone want to join that tosspot," scowled Harry. "He tortures his own followers, and he's just going to toss his followers aside if he wins the war."

"You don't know anything about the Dark Lord, Potter. You're just upset that he killed your parents, aren't you?" Pansy chimed in.

"Shut up, Pugsy. What right do you have to insult Harry if you wet yourself when you duel him," challenged Daphne. And it was true. Every so often last year, Moody would have dueling days. When Pansy squared off against Harry, he put her down in about five seconds, and what a painful five seconds for the pug-faced girl. After that, anytime she had to face Harry, she became so intimidated that she actually peed her pants on one occasion. It was a _memorable_ moment, for lack of a better word.

"You can't let her just insult me, Draco. Do something," Pansy shrieked at her betrothed.

"But it was true," Draco said, looking like he was trying not to laugh at the memory.

"Draco Malfoy!" Pansy shrieked. "I can't believe that you are agreeing with that skank."

Harry and Blaise, both of whom would have been content to just sit back and watch, started for their wands. Daphne quickly laid a calming hand on both of their arms, and gave a barely perceptible shake of her head. Both boys were about to ask when a familiar voice sounded.

"Misters Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, and Misses Bulstrode and Parkinson, what on earth are you doing clustered in the hall this close to curfew," came the silky voice of Professor Severus Snape. He then noticed the three other snakes in the corner. "Not fighting with Potter, Greengrass, and Zabini, I hope."

"They cornered us, sir, and started threatening us," said Daphne, the most trusted of the students there.

"Oh really," asked Snape, raising an eyebrow towards Draco. "Did that really happen Mr. Malfoy. And don't lie to me; I know when you are lying."

"Yes," said Draco, sullenly, this actually being a rare occurrence when he looked truly beaten. Professor Snape may have been the only person that the young Malfoy heir actually feared in the castle.

"Detention with me tomorrow at seven, along with you four as well," Snape sneered, while motioning towards Draco's accomplices. "Now get to the dungeons, all of you, before I have to punish you further."

When Harry, Daphne, and Blaise arrived at the dungeons, Theo and Tracey looked up, and their slightly panicked expressions quickly melted into those of relief. The trio quickly retold their tale, and by the end of it, both Theo and Tracey were visibly upset.

"You shouldn't have held Harry and Blaise back," scowled Theo. "It would have served the blond ponce right."

Daphne gave an exasperated sigh before answering. "I told you, Theo, that while I appreciated the gesture, I saw Snape coming, and I didn't want Blaise and Harry to be the ones to get in trouble when Malfoy started it."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," grumbled Theo.

The group of friends talked for a few more minutes about nothing in particular, before finally heading up to bed.

The next morning, the five Slytherin friends were eating breakfast when Professor Snape came around with their schedules. When he got to the group of friends, he stopped for a second.

"I'm expecting you five to work especially hard this year, with your OWLs coming up. Make Slytherin proud." With that, he handed each student a schedule, and quickly moved on to a cluster of second years. The schedule looked like this:

_**Slytherin, Year Five**_

_**Monday**_

_**Charms:**__ 8:00-9:00, Hufflepuff_

_**History of Magic: **__9:30-10:00, none_

_**Lunch: **__11:30-12:45_

_**Transfiguration: **__1:30-2:30, Gryffindor_

_**Tuesday**_

_**Arithmancy: **__8:00-9:00*_

_**Herbology: **__10:00-11:00, Ravenclaw_

_**Lunch: **__11:30-12:30_

_**Potions: **__1:00-2:00, Gryffindor_

_** Wednesday**_

_**Defense Against the Dark Arts: **__9:30-10:00, Gryffindor_

_**Lunch:**__ 11:30-12:30_

_**History of Magic: **__1:30-2:30, Hufflepuff_

_**Thursday**_

_**Ancient Runes: **__8:30-9:30*_

_**Potions: **__10:00-10:30, Gryffindor_

_**Lunch: **__11:30-12:30_

_**Herbology: **__1:00-1:30, Ravenclaw_

_**Friday**_

_**Transfiguration: **__8:30-9:00, Gryffindor_

_**Charms: **__10:00-10:30, none_

_** Lunch: **__11:30-12:30_

_**Defense Against the Dark Arts:**__ 1:00-2:00_

_*1 class per elective per week_

_Electives shared among all four houses_

The group had decided back in second year to take the same electives, and they had been pleased when they learned that Malfoy and his entourage had taken Care of Magical Creatures, though he had taken Arithmancy, but time spent away from the ponce was time well spent in their opinions. With the term starting on a Wednesday yesterday, the group headed off to Ancient Runes for their first class of what would hopefully be an uneventful year of schooling.

**A/N: Sorry about the delay in the update. I've been busy with school, and I hurt my hand the other day, making typing difficult. **_**Over a Galleon**_** will likely be updated within the next couple days, but I can't promise anything for sure.**

**TheDarkMind10**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I apologize for the huge delay in updating. School sucks. By the way, for those of you who don't read **_**Over a Galleon**_**, you, the reader, get a say in my next story. Details at the bottom. On to Chapter 4.**

**Chapter 4**

The first week of school was mostly uneventful for the Slytherins. They were extremely excited for DADA, and the first class didn't disappoint. Professor Shacklebolt had the class duel the entire period to see what they knew. Each person dueled twice, against opponents that were randomly selected. Harry had gotten lucky enough to draw Draco in his first duel, and took great pleasure in beating him soundly. Shacklebolt looked on with an expressionless face. Daphne's second duel allowed her to get revenge on Pansy for her comments on the train, and Daphne didn't disappoint, hitting Pansy with various hexes, curses, and jinxes early and often. The group thought that it would once again be their favorite class.

Quidditch tryouts had already come and gone. The Slytherins were notorious for getting their team together as soon as possible, and it seemed that the year layoff hadn't changed anything. Harry made it on as a chaser, a position where he was considered among the best at Hogwarts. In his third year, he had approached the record for points in a season, coming just short with 240 points as compared to the record set in the 1800's by a Ravenclaw at 270. Blaise also made the team, edging out Crabbe at the tryouts for the second beater position. To his disgust, he would have to cooperate with Goyle. Malfoy lost his seeker position to Gary Lewis, a 3rd year that showed he was as good a flyer, if not better than Harry. Violet Johnson, 4th year, and Walter Thomas, 3rd year rounded out the chaser corps, and Keeper Miles Bletchley became captain, and actually pieced together a team based on talent, rather than the size that former captain Marcus Flint preferred.

Saturday morning found the group sleeping in. Their tradition was to sleep in during the first weekend, but by the second weekend, they would find themselves training in the Room of Requirement during the early morning. Everyone had gotten up and ready by 9:30, and with good morning kisses exchanged between the couples (Theo averted his gaze), the group set off for the Great Hall. Breakfast was still in full swing when they arrived, and the group sat down near the door at the Slytherin Table. Everyone piled their plates high with delicious food, and after casting detection charms on their food and drink, (they would be damned if they ever let the Weasley twins get one over on them), dug in. The food, good as ever, was off their plates in fifteen minutes, and while they ate, they talked about the latest rumors to spread through the Hogwarts rumor mill. Apparently, Terry Boot had been slapped by Su Li when he asked her out. Theo, who didn't particularly like Terry, had a good laugh at that one.

After breakfast, the group went to scout out the Room of Requirement. Unknown to them, Professor Shacklebolt was watching them interestedly. His interest was more professional than the interest the Headmaster had in the group, particularly Harry, though. Shacklebolt was simply curious as to where the top auror prospects in quite some time were heading. Shacklebolt made up his mind to tail them. He quickly got up and started following the group, though from a distance that wouldn't be considered stalkerish.

He had to rush to make sure he didn't lose them, but he was able to keep track of them. As they went further up, Shacklebolt had to wonder what was up this high to elicit interest from the snakes. They had gone past all of the classrooms that would have any relevancy to the group, and their common room was in the dungeons. Eventually the group reached the generally unused seventh floor, which just piqued the interest of the senior auror. The group reached a tapestry of a crazy wizard trying to teach trolls to dance, and Theo began pacing. Shacklebolt managed to keep his position undetected by the group as a door suddenly materialized on the blank stretch of wall. Or so he thought.

"We know you're there, Professor Shacklebolt," called out Blaise. Instead of getting upset, this actually made the auror proud. _At least they are aware of their surroundings._

Out loud, Shacklebolt asked "What are you lot up to? Nothing that violates any rules or laws I hope."

The group quickly had a hushed debate on whether to let him in on their secret.

"You see professor" began Daphne, "a few years ago we found out about this nifty room from a Hogwarts elf. If one knows how to access it, it can become anything you desire. We have used to train ourselves since our third year."

This surprised the auror. He knew they were excellent at defense, but he didn't know that they trained using a room that he was almost positive the Headmaster wasn't aware of. "Would you mind if I watched you guys train?" Unknown to him was that was ultimately the reason they decided to let him in on the secret. They were hoping that such an accomplished auror as Kinglsey Shacklebolt might provide them with some insight on the auror department. None of them had decided on what they were going to do after Hogwarts, but all had agreed that there were worse things in the world than trying to help their country.

"Of course professor," spoke Harry, on behalf of the group. "We would be privileged to have one of the Ministry's top aurors watch us train."

Theo opened the door, and ushered the group inside. Shacklebolt had to admit that he was impressed. Inside was a running track, and inside that was a dueling platform. Along the side walls of the room were various books on defense, and lining the back wall were some of the most complex training dummies that he had ever seen. The group was all stretching, and after they had individually finished, each jogged two laps around the track. When they were all done, the guys went to practice on the dummies while the girls climbed onto the dueling platform. They fought for twenty minutes without either taking significant damage, and then the two groups switched. On the platform, Theo and Blaise lined up on one side, while Harry stood on the other. The first five minutes were fairly uneventful, but eventually Harry broke through Blaise's shield. He followed with three stunners and an _incarcerous_, and then quickly dodged a barrage of offensive spells from Theo. Blaise managed to dodge the first two stunners, but Harry had aimed so that he couldn't dodge all three, and he didn't have enough time to raise a shield. Blaise went down, and got wrapped in ropes, effectively eliminating him from the duel. With Harry now able to focus all his attention on Theo, the fight quickly ended. A well placed tripping jinx hidden in a volley of stunners, and Theo hit the ground hard, and was quickly stunned before he could get back up.

Shacklebolt was applauding. "Well done Harry. That was impressive. I certainly see why the auror department is dedicated to recruiting you. Perhaps I can come to your next session, and teach you lot some of what I know."

The group, including the revived and grumpy Blaise and Theo quickly agreed. A plan was made, and everyone left the room.

**A/N: That concludes Chapter 4. I mentioned at the top that you can pick the pairing of my next story. Here are the guidelines.**

**No canon pairings.**

**No slash**

**No student/teacher (although HP/RR is winning so far)**

**Cast only one vote**

**I reserve the right to not write the top vote getter if I don't think I can do it**

**The deadline will be December 31.**

**TheDarkMind10**


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